Lights in the Darkness

Additional Background Data

Inspirations:

Thematically, the chief inspirations for the Mornlands are Historical Europe from the Dark Ages through the Early Middle Ages (though with plate and two-handed swords because it’s D&D!) with nods to a wide variety of Appendix N literature. I’ve also stolen liberally from various Dungeon Crawl Classics products and the Red Tide setting.

Civilization is in retreat. It’s no exaggeration to say that everything was better in the past for just about everyone except the Dwergar. Everyone, even the Alfar, were more advanced in every sense in the centuries and millennia before the period in which the campaign takes place. Adventurers are uncommon.

There are three “civilized” races in the Mornlands: Men (in a Tolkienesque, non-gender specific sense), Alfar, and Dwergar.

The Church of the Maker

Men and Dwergar are theoretically monotheistic and worship the same god: The Maker. Flavor-wise, the Church of the Maker looks like an amalgam of modern Judaism, medieval Catholic Christianity, and medieval Orthodox Christianity. Thanks to differences in politics, history, and philosophy, there are various small and large controversies and power struggles in the Church of the Maker that add an additional layer of politicking and turmoil to the Mornlands.

Heresy, paganism, and Chaos are found throughout the Mornlands, eating away at the foundations of civilization and preparing the way for a new reign of Darkness.